He Needed a Doctor, Too: Book 1, Iridis Culver
by sarcrow13
Summary: The Doctor was never alone. He always had someone, a girl named Iridis Culver. She has never left his side, always been there for him. She's the Doctor's doctor.
1. Chapter 1

"You know, you shouldn't have regenerated so close to the console," I commented from where I was, leaning against the TARDIS' console which still spewed sparks at a furious rate. I inspected my nails, which were painted neon lime-green.

"It didn't cross my mind! Now please help me back up!" the Doctor shouted from where he was barely clinging on to the threshold of the door.

"I don't know . . ." I mused, still thoroughly examining my fingernails for any traces of dirt, "I guess I'll think about it."

"Please, Iridis!" the Doctor screeched fearfully. "I'll get you more nail polish!"

I giggled and pulled him back into the TARDIS. I closed the door behind him, and then leaned against it. "I was going to help you either way. However," I stated, jabbing my finger in his face, "I'm going to hold you to that promise."

The Doctor sighed but raced over to the console quickly.

"We're about to hit the Parliament Clock Tower," I informed him as if it was perfectly normal, leaning against one of the walls casually.

He yelped in surprise and quickly pulled a few levers and pressed a few buttons, which made us fly over Big Ben, rather than crash into it. He gave a joyful shout like a little kid at Christmas, making me roll my eyes. Then he began to dance around the console like a Native American would dance around a bonfire.

I rolled my eyes again and suppressed a snicker, holding my lips together tightly. "I'm going to go change, Doctor. Try not to miss me too much." I lifted my hand above my head and gave him a slight wave of farewell as I walked out of the room.

I heard him mutter something under his breath, but I was too far down the corridor to hear the actual words he had spoken. I pondered over what he might have said, but eventually just gave up. I shrugged; the Doctor was the Doctor, there was no understanding him.

On a less confusing and contradictorily note, I was looking forward to getting to know the new Doctor. It was always an adventure, getting to know the brand new Doctor directly after he regenerated. He became an entirely new person, a new person who already knew me inside and out.

I pushed a random door open and smiled when I found myself in the wardrobe. I knew the TARDIS would take care of me; she always did. I walked into the room, past the threshold, and began browsing through the many levels and collections of clothing.

After a few minutes (only about two or so), I threw my hands up in the air and shouted that I had given up. At that moment, the TARDIS arranged a pile of lovely clothes. There was a dark apple-green T-shirt that had 'Don't Challenge The Female, She's Always In The Kitchen.' printed on it in giant silver letters, a lighter apple-green pair of skinny jeans with silver rhinestones placed at random upon it, a lovely neon-green ribbon to hold my hair out of my face, and a pair of the most beautiful high heels I had ever seen. They were apple-green, like the rest of my outfit, and had silver straps to wrap around my ankles in order to hold them in place. I thanked her enthusiastically as I stripped off my grimy red clothing.

"Can you wash the clothing?" I asked her, pointing to the pile of dirty, red clothing on the floor. "Oh, and can we keep the high heels? I rather like them."

The TARDIS gave an affirming hum, and I smiled. With that sorted, I pulled the T-shirt on, which made my hair full of static. I groaned but ignored it for the moment and finished getting dressed. Then I braided my hair and used the ribbon to keep it held in place. I slipped the high heels on, and sighed as I felt the cool faux-leather envelop my feet.

"Where's the Doctor?" I asked the TARDIS once I was all finished preening.

I couldn't help but giggle when she showed me the location of the Doctor; he was riding a huge wave of pool water like a drowned cat. I began to walk towards him when I realized I didn't need to. He was heading my way.

A huge wave of water, carrying the Doctor on its crest just like how the TARDIS had showed me, came rushing towards me and the wardrobe. I ran towards the door, and the TARDIS, realizing my intentions, diverted the flow of the water into the library, much to my displeasure.

"I wanted you to divert it into his bedroom, not the library." I rolled my eyes as I groaned and facepalmed. "Now all of the books are absolutely soaked," I whined, continuing to express my displeasure with her actions.

She only gave an amused hum, which caused me to throw my hands up in the air in exasperation. I began to walk to the library, only to pop my head back into the room. "Make sure to dry the clothes after you wash them, please. Also, please dry the books once you're done."

She gave me a reassuring hum and I continued on my earlier path. I walked down the hallway, following the slick trail of water and the overwhelming scent of chlorine the pool water had left behind. I pushed the mahogany double doors open, and found all of the water inside a swimming pool the TARDIS had carefully constructed in order to contain it. The Doctor was lying sprawled out on the floor, still dripping wet. Surrounding him were various pages of various books, which made my frown deepen.

I walked up to him, my heels clicking against the floor gently. I watched with amusement as he stared at my high heels with a dazed expression, as if he was unable to register what was happening. Eventually, his gaze lifted to my face, and when his eyes lifted to my face, he had the expression of a deer in the headlights of a car. He began to stammer apologies, which made me roll my eyes. I hauled him to his feet and dragged him to a place where we could see the main control room and the doors.

"W-What are you doing, Iridis?" he stuttered, still fearful I was upset with him because the pool water had gotten the books wet, as I yanked one of my high heels off my foot.

I ignored him as I undid the ribbon that held my hair back in the braid, and my auburn curls falling down from their prison and spilling over my shoulders. I tied one end of the ribbon on to the strap of my high heel, then looked up at the doors. "Doors open!" I called, and they swung open, swinging outwards.

"How did you do that?" The Doctor gaped at me, and I gently lifted his jaw so his mouth wasn't hanging open.

"Don't do that, sweetie," I said without looking at him, patting his cheek. "It makes you look like even more of an idiot."

The Doctor cried out as he took offense to my statement, but I tuned out his childish, insulted rant. I swung my makeshift grappling hook around until I had the right velocity, and then I flung it up and out of the TARDIS. I felt my high heel catch on something and tugged on the ribbon to make sure it was secure.

After assuring myself it was secure, I began to climb up and out of the TARDIS. I swung my legs over the edge once I had reached the top and jumped down on to the soil below. I waited until the Doctor appeared as well to grab my high heel and slip it on. I examined the ribbon and tossed it back in; it was torn and wouldn't look good with my hair. Moments later, a new ribbon, this one sky blue, gently blew into my outstretched hands.

I quickly pulled my hair up into a ponytail and tied it back with the ribbon, then I turned to the little girl the Doctor was already talking to.

"Could I have an apple? All I can think about. Apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving? That's new. Never had cravings before," the Doctor said energetically. Then he looked over the edge and back into the TARDIS, whistling. "Whoa. Look at that."

"Are you okay?" the young Scottish girl asked, looking at the both of us weirdly.

"Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up," the Doctor replied as I yanked him down from the edge of the TARDIS.

"You're forgetting you wouldn't be up here if it wasn't for me," I reminded him threateningly, jabbing my forefinger in his face.

He gulped audibly and backed away from me a bit.

"You're soaking wet," the young girl continued as I admired her bright red hair.

"I like your hair," I said, speaking before the Doctor could.

"Thanks." The girl ducked her head, her cheeks bright pink.

I nodded, and the Doctor gave me an irritated look that melted into a fearful one as I returned his glare.

"Ahem, uh, I was in the swimming pool," the Doctor said awkwardly, still scared I was going to hurt him.

"You said you were in the library," the young girl said, frowning.

"So was the swimming pool, unfortunately," I said quickly, stealing the Doctor's line.

"Are you two policemen?" the little girl with the beautiful red hair asked, voicing the question that had been hovering on the tip of her tongue.

"Why? Did you call a policeman?" the Doctor asked quickly, giving me a worried look, which I returned.

"Did you come about the crack in my wall?" the sweet little girl continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"What crack? Argh!" The Doctor stumbled, only to have me catch him and slowly lower him down to the ground.

"Are you all right, mister?" The young girl wore a worried look, which made the corners up my mouth twitch upwards a bit.

"No, I'm fine. It's okay. This is all perfectly norm –" He coughed and regeneration energy floated out in a golden trail that soon disappeared.

I began to rub his back soothingly. I knew it hurt when one regenerated.

"I don't know yet. I'm still cooking," the Doctor mused, watching as his hands glowed faintly with regeneration energy, only to look up at the young girl. "Does it scare you?"

The little girl shook her head, her voice thick with a Scottish accent I couldn't help but love. "No, it just looks a bit weird."

I chuckled a bit until the Doctor elbowed me in the side. I glared at him.

"No, no, no. The crack in your wall. Does it scare you?" the Doctor clarified as I climbed to my feet.

"Yes," confirmed the young girl, causing me to give a low and long whistle.

That had to be one _hell_ of a scary crack.

"Well then, no time to lose," the Doctor cried excitedly, leaping to his feet and looking down at the little girl. "I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked straight into a tree. He fell to the ground and I rolled my eyes in amusement. "Wrong way, sweetie."

The little girl wasn't nearly as amused. "Are you all right?"

"Early days. Steering's a bit off," the Doctor said dazedly as I hauled him to his feet again.

"Mind if we go into your house, sweetheart?" I asked sweetly, bending down to the young girl as the Doctor fell over without my support.

She shook her head, and I smiled. I turned around and dragged the Doctor to his feet, wrapping his arm around my shoulder as I wrapped mine around his. I motioned for her to lead the way, and she did.

Once inside, the young girl handed the Doctor an apple. "If you're a doctor, why does your box say Police?"

"It's just a hobby," I whispered to the little girl.

The Doctor bit into the apple and immediately spat it back out. "That's disgusting. What is that?" he asked, wiping his mouth off on his once-nice button-up shirt.

"That's an apple, sweetie," I said slowly and carefully, acting like he couldn't understand English.

"Apple's rubbish. I hate apples," the Doctor said, grimacing.

"You said you loved them," the little girl said, absolutely confused beyond belief.

"Early days," I whispered to her softly. "He doesn't know what he likes and what he doesn't."

"No, no, no. I like yoghurt. Yoghurt's my favorite. Give me yogurt," he ordered, continuing to rant without realizing we had been having our own conversation.

I smiled. "Go ahead and get him some. But first, what's your name?"

"Amelia," she replied, "Amelia Pond."

"That's a lovely name, Amelia," I complimented her in a hushed tone. "My name is Iridis."

"Thank you, Iridis," Amelia said, bowing her head a little bit.

With that, she rushed off to get the Doctor his yogurt. Meanwhile, I went and whacked the Doctor upside the head.

"Ouch!" he cried in an injured tone, reaching back to cradle his head. "What was that for?"

"Manners," I hissed before sliding into the chair next to him.

He pouted childishly until Amelia brought the bowl of yogurt over. She handed it to him and he shoveled some in his mouth, only to spit it back out.

"I hate yogurt. It's just stuff with bits in," the Doctor muttered as if it were the worst thing in the whole universe.

"You said it was your favorite," she said, frowning.

"New mouth. New rules. It's like eating after cleaning your teeth. Everything tastes wrong. Argh!" The Doctor began to twitch violently and I pulled him back into his seat and smoothed his hair back.

"What is it? What's wrong with you?" Amelia asked wildly.

The Doctor frowned at her word choice. "Wrong with me? It's not my fault. Why can't you give me any decent food? You're Scottish. Fry something."

Amelia scurried over to grab a frying pan and follow his instructions and my frown deepened. I whacked him upside the head even harder.

"Owie," he whined, rubbing the back of his head.

"Work on your manners and I won't hit you as much," I hissed in his face before walking over to help Amelia fry some bacon.

That got spat out and rejected, as well as beans and bread and butter. He didn't like bread and butter so much he threw it out the door and hit a cat, which caused me to hit him again. He then raced over to the fridge and began to rummage through it. Then he pulled out fish fingers and custard, and I made a face.

Once it was made, he dipped the fish fingers in the custard. I gave him a disgusted look.

"You've liked some pretty weird things in your past regenerations, but this tops it all off by a mile," I said, grimacing as he took another bite and chewed it slowly, just to disgust me.

Yeah, I whacked him upside the head for that one.

Amelia was eating some ice cream and offered me some. I declined, though. I asked her if I could grab something, and she shrugged. I walked over to the freezer and dug out some chocolate and jalapenos. I ignored the Doctor and Amelia's weird looks as I melted the chocolate, then dipped the jalapenos in it. I sat back down and began munching on my chocolate covered jalapenos.

"Funny," Amelia mused, licking her ice cream with a ferocity that amused me greatly.

"Am I? Good. Funny's good. What's your name?" the Doctor asked her, still munching contently on his fish fingers and custard.

"Amelia Pond," she replied, shaking her head as I offered her a jalapeno.

"Oh, that's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond. Like a name in a fairy tale. Are we in Scotland, Amelia?" the Doctor asked, nodding eagerly as I offered him a jalapeno.

He bit into it, and, to my great surprise, he didn't spit it out. Instead, he munched on it contently. He offered me a fish finger dipped in custard, causing me to grimace. He continued to offer it, though, and eventually I gave in and took it, recognizing he wouldn't leave me alone until I did.

"No. We had to move to England. It's rubbish," Amelia replied bitterly, attacking her ice cream as I bit into the fish finger dipped in custard the Doctor had given me; it wasn't disgusting, which surprised me.

"Well, England can be a lovely place," I said comfortingly, touching her shoulder lightly. "Just you wait and see."

She gave me a hesitant smile.

"So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now," the Doctor mused, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

I looked up at the ceiling, too; I'd been wondering that very same thing.

"I don't have a mum and dad. Just an aunt," Amelia said, sounding almost bitter.

"I don't even have an aunt," the Doctor said like he was all that; I was so tempted to whack him again, but I restrained myself.

"You're lucky." She gave him a jealous look that made me smile.

"I know," he said proudly with a huge, idiotic grin. "So, your aunt, where is she?"

Her frown deepened. "She's out," she muttered.

"And she left you all alone?" he asked, his grin turning into a frown.

"I'm not scared," Amelia said, quick to assure us she was brave.

"'Course, you're not. You're not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, man and woman falls out of a box, man eats fish custard and woman eats chocolate covered jalapenos, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?" he asked, his grin returning in an instant.

"What?" Amelia asked, curious.

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall," the Doctor said before he bit into another fish finger coated with custard as if all of it was perfectly normal.

I facepalmed.


	2. Chapter 2

"You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen," the Doctor rambled on and on.

I rolled my eyes, swinging my legs out randomly as I lounged on Amelia's bed. My legs swung out and I swung my head from side to side. I hummed in boredom.

"I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them," Amelia said, offering the Doctor an apple with a smiley face carved into it, nice and fresh.

He took it and tossed it in the air, only to catch it. "She sounds good, your mum. I'll keep it for later," he said, pocketing it.

"Aren't you going to say thanks, Doctor?" I called, causing the Doctor to wince.

"Uh, thank you, Amelia Pond," he muttered awkwardly.

"You're welcome," she whispered before turning back to the crack in her wall.

The Doctor walked over to the crack and began to touch it. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing. Where's the draught coming from?"

"Don't remind me," I said, groaning.

He rolled his eyes as he scanned the crack. He examined the readings. "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. You know what the crack is?" He gave me a worried look, which made my heart race.

"What?" Amelia asked, a bit frightened by the Doctor's expression.

"It's a crack. But I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall," he said, making my eyes widen even further.

"Where is it then?" she asked, and I could tell her worry was growing.

I stood up and walked over to her, kneeling down right next to her. I took her hand in mine and began to massage the back of her hand with my thumb. She soon wrapped her arms around me and hugged me.

"Everywhere. In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom." The Doctor brushed his fingers against the wall above the crack and below in quick succession. He, then, pressed his ear against the wall. "Sometimes, can you hear –"

"A voice," Amelia said, nodding. "Yes."

He raced over to her nightstand and grabbed a cup of water that had been sitting there. He poured the water out and used the cup to listen. After listening a bit, he frowned. "Prisoner Zero?"

"Prisoner Zero has escaped. That's what I heard. What does it mean?" she asked, still clinging to me like one would cling to a cliff in an attempt to pull themselves back up and out of the empty air.

The Doctor was silent for a moment, and I frowned. "Doctor? Doctor, what is it?"

"It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner. And you know what that means?" The Doctor looked straight at me, his green eyes meeting my own, information passing between us.

"What?" Amelia murmured, shivering in fear.

"You need a better wall," he said, stepping backwards so that he was right next to me. He looked down at me. "Trust me?"

"Always have and always will," I replied firmly, giving him no room to see it as anything but the truth.

"The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or –" The Doctor grimaced at the thought, and I stood up to take his hand in mine.

"What?" she asked, her voice shaking as her grip on my other hand tightened.

"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?" the Doctor asked, making me frown.

I whacked him in the arm. "Doctor," I hissed at him in warning.

"Yes," Amelia said, annoyed like she'd had to deal with that multiple times.

"Everything's going to be fine," he assured her, making me punch him again.

"Amelia, don't let go of my hand, no matter what," I told her, only for her to grab on to my skirt.

"I'm scared," she whispered, and I picked her up.

"Don't be," I whispered back, and she buried her face in my shoulder.

The Doctor grabbed my hand, then used the sonic screwdriver to open the crack all the way. A huge, blue eye was revealed, and the same message Amelia and the Doctor had heard played again: _"Prisoner Zero has escaped. Prisoner Zero has escaped."_ I frowned and tugged Amelia a little closer to myself.

"What's that?" Amelia asked fearfully, her grip on me tightening.

A bolt of light shot out and seemed to attack the Doctor. He fell to the side in surprise, and the crack snapped shut. The Doctor flipped his psychic paper open and began to talk. "There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new."

"What's that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?" Amelia asked, peering over my shoulder at the Doctor.

"No, I don't think so," I replied, hiking her up on my hip. "That was probably Prisoner Zero's guard."

"Whatever it was, it sent me a message. Psychic paper. Takes a lovely little message. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.' But why tell us? Unless . . ."

My eyes widened. "You can't mean . . ."

"I do," he said grimly, his frown deepening even further.

"What? What is it?" young Amelia Pond asked, looking frantically between the two of us.

"Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here. But he couldn't have. We'd know," the Doctor said firmly, nodding his head.

I didn't bother telling him my suspicion; I didn't want to worry Amelia.

We walked into the hall, the Doctor already muttering to himself.

"It's difficult. Brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing. In the corner of my eye . . ." He began to turn around, only to have the TARDIS' cloister bell begin to ring.

My eyes widened; I knew what that sound meant, and it wasn't, by any means, good.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he shouted as he raced down the steps and out into the garden with me close behind, Amelia still balanced on my hip.

Her arms wrapped around my midsection instead of my neck, which made me quite pleased. I was having difficulty breathing because of her tight grip.

"I've got to get back in there. The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!" the Doctor shouted, yanking his jacket on.

"But it's just a box. How can a box have engines?" Amelia asked, hopping down and out of my arms.

"It's not a box. It's a time machine," the Doctor said, running to the side of the TARDIS.

"Here!" I said, tossing the Doctor my sash that I always wore no matter what.

"Thanks, Iridis!" he shouted back, catching it and tying it to a nearby branch.

"What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?" Amelia continued, frowning but still standing by me.

"Not for much longer if I can't get her stabilized. Five minute hop into the future should do it."

I scoffed at his words. It wouldn't take five minutes, not with his driving skills.

"Can I come?" Amelia asked.

I knelt down next to her and took her hand in my own. "No, sweetheart. It's not safe for you and I to go."

"You're not coming?" the Doctor asked, giving me a huge frown.

"No, someone's got to stay behind to watch over Amelia. Besides, you'll be back in five minutes, remember?" I reminded him with a wink. "Plus, you know that time can't hurt me."

After a long pause, the Doctor nodded begrudgingly, then turned to Amelia. "Give me five minutes, I'll be right back."

"People always say that," Amelia said bitterly, and I wrapped her up in a gentle hug.

"He's not people, and neither am I," I whispered in her ear softly.

"Trust me. I'm the Doctor."

With that, he jumped into the TARDIS, shouting "Geronimo!" as he fell. There was a huge splash, and the TARDIS dematerialized.

"Let's go get you packed, eh, Amelia?" I asked her, standing and taking her hand.

She nodded, and we both ran into her house.

_Later on . . ._

"Jayde, are you coming?"

I turned around to see Dr. Ramsden with Rory about to enter the coma ward. "Yes, of course. I'll just be a minute."

"All right," Dr. Ramsden said, nodding.

She walked into the ward, but Rory lingered, looking at me. He waited until I nodded, assuring him I would be right there. After a moment of hesitation, he returned my nod and walked inside the ward as well.

I turned back to the clipboard and tucked a strand of my auburn hair behind my ear. I sighed and set the clipboard down on the counter and walked into the coma ward. My heels clicked against the linoleum, and the sound rang through the room.

"So. They all called out at once, that's what you're saying? All of them. All the coma patients. You do understand that these people are all comatose, don't you? They can't speak," Dr. Ramsden was saying when I entered. She turned to me. "Ah, Jayden, do you think you could help explain to Rory, here, that these coma patients couldn't have called out?"

I nodded.

"Yes, Dr. Ramsden," Rory said like she hadn't spoken at all.

"How is that possible, Rory?" I asked him quietly.

"I don't know," he replied, turning to me.

"Then why are you wasting my time?" Dr. Ramsden asked angrily. "And why are you wasting Jayde's time?"

"Because they called for you, Dr. Ramsden," Rory said, before he turned to me. "As well as for you, Jayde, or at least I think so."

"Me," Dr. Ramsden and I said incredulously in unison.

"Doctor, Iridis."

My mouth dropped open. How did they know my name?

"Doctor, Iridis. Doctor, Iridis."

Dr. Ramsden's mouth fell open.

"Doctor, Iridis. Doctor, Iridis."

"What?" I whispered softly.

"Doctor, Iridis. Doctor, Iridis. Doctor, Iridis."

Dr. Ramsden began to rush over to check the patients' charts, but I turned to Rory.

"I've got to go, Rory. Tell Dr. Ramsden I'm taking time off," I said, giving him a hesitant smile.

"Okay, Jayde."

When I began to leave, he reached out and grabbed my wrist.

"Wait."

"Yes?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"What is your real name? Jayde isn't really your name, is it?"

After a moment of hesitation, I nodded. "My name is Iridis, Iridis Culver."

With that, I ran out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

My cellphone rang and I flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jayde. He's come back. Can you meet us at the duck pond?" Amy's voice sounded sort of shrill through my phone.

"'Course," I replied as I began to run to the duck pond that had never had any ducks in it.

"What should I tell him?"

"Um, tell him an old friend's coming to see him," I said after some thought.

There was the sound of Amy's laughter then she replied. "Okay. See you soon. Bye."

"See ya," I managed to say just before she had hung up.

I snapped my phone shut and continued to walk. I tugged my fingers through my hair, gently pulling it out of its braid. My auburn curls spilled down, over my shoulders, in the same way they had all those years ago. I pulled my doctor-mask off of my face and let it fall down to the ground.

Suddenly, the sky went dark. When it was light again, the sun was distorted, and my eyes widened. I frowned. "No. It can't be."

"So what's wrong with the sun?" Amy asked just as I had run up beside her.

"Nothing. You're looking at it through a forcefield. They've sealed off your upper atmosphere. Now they're getting ready to boil the planet." The Doctor looked around, looking straight through me which caused me to frown. "Oh, and here they come. The human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone."

I rolled my eyes. Only he would say that.

"This isn't real, is it? This is some kind of big wind up," Amy said in disbelief.

"Why would I wind you up?" the Doctor asked her, frowning.

"You told me you had a time machine," Amy shot back.

"And you believed me," he replied, still looking past me.

"Then I grew up," she replied.

"Oh, you never want to do that. No. Hang on. Shut up. Wait. I missed it. I saw it and I missed it. What did I see? I saw. What did I see? I saw, I saw, I saw . . ." He was wracking his brains for what he had seen, and I had to force back a snicker.

Amy turned to me and gave me a disbelieving smile, which I returned.

"Hang on, hang on . . ." The Doctor turned and looked at me, his mouth dropping open. "Iridis?"

"At your service," I said mockingly, giving him a little bow.

"Twenty minutes. I can do it. Twenty minutes, the planet burns. Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help me, both of you."

"No."

I turned to Amy and gave her a disbelieving look.

"Amy?" The Doctor was just as surprised as I was. "I'm sorry?"

"No!" Amy shouted before dragging the Doctor by his tie to Mr. Henderson's car. She then shut the Doctor's tie in the car door, stole the keys, and locked the car.

I was frozen in my place, a ways away from them, absolutely shocked that that had happened. Then, once I had realized it had happened, I was doubled over with laughter. I just couldn't stop. When Amy had released the Doctor, he walked over and whacked me in the back of the head.

"Ouch!" I yelped, rubbing the back of my sore head ruefully and giving him a glare.

"So what do we do?" Amy asked, running to my side.

"Stop that nurse," the Doctor said, gesturing at Rory.

We ran to Rory and the Doctor snatched his phone away from him.

"The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?" the Doctor asked Rory, examining Rory's phone.

"Amy, Jayde," Rory said, his eyes widening.

While the happy couple talked, the Doctor turned to me. "'Jayde'?"

"Hey, I had to appear to make some sort of a life so I didn't attract a whole bunch of attention," I shot back. "I became Jayde the nurse."

"You know, you could have just come with me," the Doctor said, frowning.

"Someone had to look after Amy, and I'm actually glad I did," I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"So . . ." The Doctor turned to Amy and Rory. "Man and dog. Why?"

"Oh my God, it's him," Rory stammered, pointing at the Doctor with a shaking finger.

"Calm down, Rory," I said, patting his shoulder.

"Just answer his question, please," Amy said, biting her lip.

"It's him, though. The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor." Rory still couldn't get over it.

"Yeah, he came back," Amy said with a slight nod.

"But he was a story. He was a game," Rory said, making me roll my eyes.

"Man and dog. Why? Tell me now," the Doctor demanded.

I punched his arm. "Manners," I hissed in his face.

"Sorry. Because he can't be there. Because he's . . ."

"In a hospital, in a coma," the Doctor and Rory said in unison.

"Yeah," Rory said with a nod.

"Knew it. Multiform, you see? Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed. A psychic link with a living but dormant mind," the Doctor said proudly, making me roll my eyes.

"Show-off," I muttered as Prisoner Zero began to bark at us.

"Prisoner Zero," the Doctor said, stepping forward.

"What? There's a Prisoner Zero too?" Rory asked as I patted his arm.

"Yes," Amy said with a nod.

"Calm down, Rory," I whispered to him before I walked up to the Doctor's side.

One of the ships flew down and began to scan for Prisoner Zero.

"See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology," the Doctor said as he raised his sonic screwdriver up in the air. "And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver."

He pressed the button and street lights began to explode. I reached up and pressed the button with him. Car alarms went off, and a woman's scooter began to zoom off while she was sitting on top of it. A fire truck began to drive down the street on its own, the firefighters chasing after it.

"Oi, come back here! Come back!"

I snickered.

"I think someone's going to notice, don't you?" the Doctor asked with a smirk.

"I agree," I said, mirroring his smirk.

Together, we lowered the sonic and pointed it at a telephone box nearby. The telephone box exploded, and the sonic screwdriver shorted out. It burnt my hand and I yanked my hand away. I stuck my burnt fingers in my mouth and began sucking on them ruefully.

"No, no! No, don't do that!" the Doctor shouted, trying to pick the burnt-out screwdriver.

"Look, it's going," Rory said quietly as the ship began to fly off.

"No, come back. He's here! Come back! He's here. Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is –" The Doctor gave up on shouting as Prisoner Zero melted down the drain.

"Doctor! The drain. It just sort of melted and went down the drain," Amy said.

"Well, of course it did," the Doctor said, frustrated.

"It's okay, Doctor," I said, touching his shoulder.

"What do we do now?" Amy asked him fearfully.

"It's hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes. Come on, think. Think!" The Doctor began to hit himself into the head until I grabbed his hand and gave it a slight squeeze.

"You can do it," I murmured to him, giving him a small hug.

We began to walk down the street.

"So that thing, that hid in my house for twelve years?" Amy asked, her eyes widening.

"Multiforms can live for millennia," the Doctor said, lost in thought.

"Twelve years is a pit-stop," I finished for him with a slight flair of the wrist.

"So how come you show up again on the same day that lot do? The same minute!" Amy exclaimed before I wrapped my arms around her shoulder.

"They're looking for him, but they followed me. They saw me through the crack, got a fix, they're only late because I am," the Doctor explained.

"What's he on about?" Rory asked, lost as to what we were going on about.

"Nurse boy, give me your phone," the Doctor demanded, holding his hand out for Rory's iPhone.

I whacked him in the back of the head. "Manners!" I exclaimed. "Manners, Doctor!"

"How can he be real? He was never real." Rory still continued with his disbelief of the Doctor.

"Phone. Now. Gimme," the Doctor whined, making me hit him again.

"Work on your manners," I hissed in his face.

"He was just a game. We were kids. You made me dress up as him," Rory continued, handing the Doctor his phone.

The Doctor flipped through the photos and I leaned over his shoulder and examined the photos.

"These photos, they're are all coma patients?" the Doctor asked, staring at the photos.

"Yeah," Rory said with a nod.

"No, they're all the multiform. Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero," the Doctor said.

"He had a dog, though. There's a dog in a coma?" Amy asked, frowning with confusion.

"Well, the coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog," the Doctor said, his thoughts racing at twenty thousand miles an hour. "Laptop! Your friend, what was his name? Not him, the good-looking one."

"Doctor," I said in warning to him.

"Thanks," Rory said sarcastically.

"Jeff," Amy replied without any hesitation.

"Oh, thanks," Rory muttered sarcastically and I patted his shoulder.

"He had a laptop in his bag. A laptop. Big bag, big laptop. I need Jeff's laptop," the Doctor said. "You two, get to the hospital. Get everyone out of that ward. Clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done. Iridis, come with me. We're going to get Jeff's laptop."

"All right."

He grabbed my hand and we ran off, running into Jeff's house. We ran into his room and the Doctor began running his mouth.

"Hello. Laptop. Give me," the Doctor said, grabbing the laptop.

"Blimey, you need to work on your manners, Doctor," I muttered, standing in the corner of the room and leaning against the wall. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"No, no, no, no, wait," Jeff said, trying to keep the Doctor from stealing his laptop.

"It's fine. Give it here," the Doctor said, yanking the laptop from Jeff's hands.

"Hang on!" Jeff cried.

I groaned and began to bang my head against the wall. "I don't know why I bother," I muttered.

"Blimey. Get a girlfriend, Jeff," the Doctor said, scrunching his face up in disgust.

"Manners!" I said in a sing-song tone.

Jeff's grandmother walked into the room and I groaned, still banging my head against the wall.

"Gran," Jeff said, acknowledging his grandmother's entrance.

"What are you doing?" Jeff's grandmother asked before she noticed me. She gave me a smile. "Oh, hello, Jayde, dear."

"Hi, Mrs. Angelo," I said, returning the smile.

"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big old video conference call. All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? Me," the Doctor said confidently.

"So you're not full of yourself or anything," I muttered sarcastically.

The Doctor gave me a look and dragged me over to the laptop. "Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore."

"I like Patrick Moore," Mrs. Angelo said with a smile.

"I'll get you his number. But watch him, he's a devil," the Doctor warned her before returning to the laptop.

"You can't just hack in on a call like that," Jeff protested.

"Can't I?" the Doctor asked rhetorically with a grin.

"Who are you?" Patrick Moore asked.

"This is a secure call, what are you doing here?" one of the men asked.

"Hello. Yeah, I know you should switch me off, but before you do, watch this," the Doctor said, typing on the laptop.

"It's here too, I'm getting it," Patrick Moore mused.

"Fermat's Theorem, the proof. And I mean the real one. Never been seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down. My fault. I slept in. Oh, and here's an oldie but a goodie. Why electrons have mass. And a personal favorite of mine, faster than light travel with two diagrams and a joke. Look at your screens. Whoever I am, I'm a genius. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention."

While the Doctor blathered on and on, I was sprawled out on the floor. I was eagle-spread, laying on the carpet like a starfish. I had my eyes closed, yawning. I hadn't slept well in a very long while, so I was loving the opportunity to just rest. Of course, that ended when the Doctor almost stepped on me. I yelped in shock and my eyes flew open. He rolled his eyes and dragged me to my feet.

"Come on, let's go."

Needless to say, I kicked him in the shin for that.


	4. Chapter 4

"Doctor, there's that fire truck that you messed with." I pointed out to him.

"You're a genius!" he shouted with a grin.

"Come on, come on, let's go," I said, dragging him to the vehicle.

When he made to climb into the driver's seat, I about had a heart attack.

"Oh, no, no, no!" I cried, grabbing his sleeve. "You are not driving that! You can't drive the TARDIS and you've had it for 700 years! What makes you think I'm going to let you drive me to the hospital?!"

"Aww, meanie," he whined, pouting, but he let me climb into the driver's seat all the same.

"Okay, um, keys?" I looked around.

He rolled his eyes. "Here."

I caught the keys he tossed me with ease. "All right. Let's go."

I inserted the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine started and we were off. Rory's phone rang and I picked it up before he could.

"Hello?" I asked, turning on to a different road.

"Iridis? We're at the hospital, but we can't get through."

"Look in the mirror, ya dimwit," I said with a chuckle.

The Doctor gave me a confused look. "What'd you say that for?"

"She's in the hospital but can't get through," I said to him, covering the speaker.

"Ohh."

I snickered.

"Are you on your way? You're going to need a car."

"Oh, we've commandeered a vehicle," I said with a grin, hitting the button on top that made the siren switch on.

She hung up, only to call again a couple of minutes later.

"Missed me already?" I asked her sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up."

"What do you need?" I asked her, taking another turn. "Are you in?"

"Yep. But so's Prisoner Zero."

"You need to get out of there," I hissed, giving the Doctor a worried look.

"What's going on?" the Doctor asked, interrupting my conversation with Amy.

"They've gotten into the hospital, but Prisoner Zero's there, too," I said.

"Tell them to get out of there!" he yelled.

"I have." I turned my attention back to Amy. "Amy? Amy, what's going on? Amy, come on, talk to me!"

"We're in the coma ward, but it's here. It's getting in."

"Which window are you?" I asked her, giving the Doctor a sideways grin.

"Genius," he mouthed to me, returning my grin.

"What, sorry?"

I nearly laughed. "Which window?"

"Uh, first floor, on the left, fourth from the end."

"All right, thanks. That's all I need," I said before ending the phone call.

"Together?" the Doctor asked, offering me his hand.

"Deal." I grabbed his hand.

He stole the phone from me and texted Amy to duck. Mere seconds later, the ladder crashed through the window.

"Let's go," I said, climbing out of the window and up the ladder.

"Right! Hello. Am I late? No, three minutes to go. So still time," the Doctor rambled.

I gave him a gentle shove. "You're rambling, Doctor."

"Oops," he said quietly.

"Time for what, Time Lord?" Prisoner Zero asked.

"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies," the Doctor instructed.

"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire," Prisoner Zero hissed spitefully.

"Ooh, fire. I'm so scared," I muttered sarcastically, waving my arms about.

"Okay. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again. Just leave," the Doctor commanded, grabbing my hand.

"I did not open the crack," Prisoner Zero said, sounding insulted that we would even suggest it doing such a thing.

"Somebody did," the Doctor shot back.

"The cracks in the skin of the universe, don't you know where they came from? You don't, do you?" Prisoner Zero's eyebrows raised and it smirked. It began to talk in a child's voice. "The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know. Doesn't know. Doesn't know!"

"This can't be good," I murmured softly, my eyes widening.

It returned to the other voice. "The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

"And we're off! Look at that. Look at that!" The Doctor pointed to a clock, which read all zeroes.

"Genius," I murmured, grinning. "You are an absolute genius."

"Why thank you." The Doctor gave me a huge grin. "Yeah, I know, just a clock. Whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word is Zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd probably take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute? The source, by the way, is right here." He held up Rory's phone, which he had taken from me.

There was a whirring noise as the Atraxi ship flew in closer. The window lit up with a bright, white light.

"Oh! And I think they just found us!" the Doctor crowed triumphantly.

"The Atraxi are limited. While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me," Prisoner Zero said confidently.

"Yeah, but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Oooh, and being uploaded about now."

I stole the phone from his hand and pressed the send button.

"And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare. Who da man?" he exclaimed, swinging his arms out like he was going to hug someone.

No one was amused; Prisoner Zero stared at him in disbelief, Rory raised his eyebrows at him, Amy gave him a look, and me, oh, I tried my best not to snicker.

He pouted. "Oh, I'm never saying that again. Fine."

"Then I shall take a new form," Prisoner Zero said confidently.

"Oh, stop it. You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes.

"And I've had years," Prisoner Zero said confidently, and at that moment, everything went black.

I was in a room, a dark room, all alone. I could hear voices, voices from a distance. The Doctor appeared, as well as Amy.

_"Iridis!"_ Amy shouted out in concern.

_"No, no, no! That shouldn't be possible!"_ the Doctor shouted, absolutely frustrated.

_"What do you mean, Doctor? Hang on, why's it copying me?"_ Amy asked, bewildered.

_"How can Prisoner Zero copy her?"_ The Doctor completely ignored Amy's second question.

_"Iridis lived with me, in that house. Ever since you left, we stayed together. She and I were, we still are, best friends. She didn't realize Prisoner Zero was in the house any more than I did. She got a job as a nurse, said her name was Jayde. She became part of everyone's life. Is she going to be all right, Doctor?" _

_"Wake up, Iridis! You can't sleep! Wake up!" _

_"Doctor." _

_"Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be? I know that's you two, Amy, Rory, but who's the one in the middle?" _

_"It's you." _

_"Me? Is that what I look like?" _

_"You don't know?" _

_"Busy day. Why me, though? You're linked with her. Why are you copying me? Why are you copying us?" _

_"I'm not."_ It was my voice.

_"What? Is that her?" _

_"It's her when we first met." _

_"You met when she was five years old?" _

_"It was a weird day for the both of us." _

_"Poor little Iridis Culver. Acts all grown-up and responsible, but such a dreamer inside. Dreaming of the wonderful life that still hasn't come, waiting for the perfect man to come and sweep her off her feet, clinging to anyone who seems like they could help her. What a disappointment you've all been. You haven't saved her at all." _

_"No, you're wrong. She's dreaming about us because she can hear us. If she can hear us . . ." _

_"Iridis, remember when you went into that room. That room, without me, that's not supposed to be there. Do you remember that?"_

The memories began to flow back into my head.

_"Good. Remember what you saw there. Remember what you told me about seeing. Dream about that, Iridis." _

_"No. No. No!" _

_"Well done, Prisoner Zero. A perfect impersonation of yourself." _

_**"Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained."** _

_"Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall."_

"The sun. It's back to normal, right? That's, that's good, yeah? That means it's over."

I started to come to, feeling the Doctor holding me gently.

"Iridis. Are you okay? Are you with us?" Amy asked, brushing my hair out of my face.

"I'm fine. So what happened?" I sat up, clutching my pounding head. "Ohh, my head."

"He did it. The Doctor did it," Amy said, helping me to sit up.

"No, I didn't," the Doctor said, dialing. "You okay, Iridis?"

"I'm fine, just got a bit of a headache." I stood up with Amy's help, still wincing at the pain pulsing from my head.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked, helping Amy to prop me up.

"Tracking the signal back. Sorry in advance." The Doctor gave Rory a rueful smile.

"About what?" Rory frowned.

"The bill," the Doctor replied, and I snickered. "Oi, I didn't say you could go! Article fifty seven of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level five planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no one was watching? You lot, back here, now." He snapped the phone shut and tossed it to Rory. "Okay, now I've done it. Coming, Iridis?"

"Of course," I replied, taking his hand.

We walked out into the hospital corridor, my amigos close behind.

"Where are you two going then?" Amy asked, keeping up with us easily.

"The roof. No, hang on." The Doctor made an abrupt turn and walked straight into a locker room.

"What's in here?" Amy asked, looking around.

"I'm saving the world - I need a decent shirt. To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show," the Doctor said with a slight flair of his wrist.

"You just summoned aliens back to Earth. Actual aliens, deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you're taking your clothes off. Amy, he's taking his clothes off," Rory said, looking absolutely astonished.

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor shot back, yanking his raggedy clothes off. Then he turned to me. "Why didn't you tell me I looked so raggedy?" he asked me accusingly.

"Must've slipped my mind," I said, shrugging innocently.

"Uh, do you think you could help me here?" the Doctor asked moments later, all twisted up in his clothing.

"'Course," I said, stifling a giggle.

I walked over and helped him to get his limbs free of that pesky clothing. His words, not mine.

"Are you stealing clothes now? Those clothes belong to people, you know," Rory reminded him before turning to Amy. "Are you not going to turn your back?"

"No," Amy replied, leaning against the wall while Rory turned around.

"What about you, Iridis? Aren't you going to turn around?" Rory asked me without turning away from the wall behind us.

"I can't," I replied, giving him a rueful smile. "Someone's gotta help this lump get his clothing on the right way."

"Oi!" the Doctor shouted just before I grabbed a shirt and pulled it over his head.

"Yes?" I asked him, giving him a slight smile.

"Nothing," he muttered, pouting childishly.

Once I had finished making sure he had his clothing on right, we began to walk up to the roof. I watched in amusement as the Doctor raced up the stairs.

"He never changes," I muttered, shaking my head. I raced up the stairs as well.

"So this was a good idea, was it? They were leaving," Amy said, frowning.

"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better," the Doctor said with a grin.

"Come on, then! The Doctor will see you now."

The eyeball from the ship swung down and scanned the Doctor. _"You are not of this world,"_ it said.

"No, but I've put a lot of work into it," the Doctor shot back, examining his selection of ties. "Oh, hmm, I don't know. What do you think?"

"No, Doctor," I said, stepping forward and shaking my head. "It looks absolutely awful."

_"You are not of this world, either."_

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p'. "But I consider it to be my home, considering . . ."

_"Is this world important?"_

Those words made me frown. "Important? Important?!"

"Important? What's that mean, important? Six billion people live here. Is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi? Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?" the Doctor demanded, narrowing his eyes.

A projection of Earth and the people's lives played before us.

_"No." _

"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" the Doctor asked, grabbing my hand.

_"No." _

"Okay. One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here. Oh, there have been so many," the Doctor said, giving my hand a little squeeze.

Another projection played, this one of the many aliens that had visited Earth; Daleks, Cybermen, etc.

"And what you've got to ask is, what happened to them?" the Doctor said as I adjusted his bow tie, pulling his suspenders up.

The final projection was of the Doctor. It showed the Doctor in his many regenerations. When it ended with his tenth regeneration, he walked through it.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically, run."

The ship raced off, and I couldn't help but grin.

"Come on, Doctor. Let's go. The TARDIS is ready," I said, stealing the key from his jacket.

"Then let us be off," he said, offering me his arm, which I took.

We walked off and took a trip to the moon. When we came back, Amy was waiting in her garden for her.

"Sorry about running off earlier. Brand new TARDIS. Bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She's ready for the big stuff now," the Doctor said, giving the TARDIS a fond little pat.

"It's you. You came back," Amy said, her eyes widening.

"'Course I came back. I always come back. Something wrong with that?" he asked her, frowning.

"And you kept the clothes," Amy said, giving him a disbelieving look.

"Well, I just saved the world. The whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me. I kept the clothes." He rolled his eyes.

"Including the bow tie." Amy's look grew in size.

"Yeah, it's cool. Bow ties are cool," he said, adjusting his bow tie with a grin.

"Keep telling yourself that," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "See you."

I swung the doors open, giving the Doctor a smirk as I did so. I stepped inside and walked down the corridor, towards my bedroom.

"TARDIS, can you tell the Doctor I'm going to bed?"

She gave an affirming hum and I grinned. I skipped down the corridor to my room.

"I'm so happy I'll finally be able to color-coordinate my outfits again."


	5. Chapter 5

I slid the nail polish brush over my nail with careful precision.

When Amy spoke, I jumped, but, luckily, it didn't smear.

"Raspberry blue?"

"Yeah," I replied without looking up. "I decided today's blue day."

"That's nice," Amy said, and it was silent for a moment.

"What is it?"

"Do you want my help in picking out an outfit?"

I looked up, giving her a grateful smile. "I'd really appreciate it."

"Okay."

Amy leapt up from her seat and began digging around in the wardrobe. I continued to paint on an even coat of the raspberry blue nail polish on each of my nails. I ignored her rummaging and banging around in the wardrobe behind me. Once I had finished, I blew on my nails in an effort to dry them off.

"Will this work?"

I turned around to see Amy holding some blue clothing, her hair all ruffled and skewed. I stifled a giggle, and failed.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered. "Just take it!"

She tossed the clothing to me and I caught it, examining it. "Ooh, you have a nice sense of fashion!"

"Thanks," she said, her cheeks flaming. "Anyways, I've got to go. The Doctor wants to show me something."

"See you!" I called to her as she exited the room.

I pulled the clothing on, being careful of my freshly-painted nails. Once I had done that, I looked into the mirror. I was wearing a blue T-shirt with curly, white lettering that said 'Come and get me'. The sleeves were puffy and had white lace stitching in them. I had a darker blue skirt on. The skirt had white lace patterns, and fell down to my ankles. I twisted around to get a better view.

"Hey, TARDIS," I began, looking up at the ceiling, "do you think we could get some blue high heels."

A pair of high heels with silver lace appeared right in front of me.

"I love you," I said with a grin.

She gave a cheerful hum, and I pulled the high heels on.

"Iridis!"

I yelped in surprise as I heard the Doctor shout for me. Once I could breathe normally again, I sighed.

"What do you need, Doctor?"

"Just get over here!" he shouted back.

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the door. The moment I did so, I found myself in the console. I looked around and gave a small laugh. I patted the wall.

"Good old TARDIS."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Doctor roll his eyes. Before I could protest, he dragged me to the console. "Well, come on. I've found us a spaceship. This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home," the Doctor mused, grinning.

"Can we go out and see?" Amy asked, practically bursting with excitement.

"'Course we can. But first, there's a thing," he began, making me roll my eyes.

"A thing?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"An important thing. In fact, Thing One. We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets," he said, waving his hands about for a dramatic flair.

"Liar," I muttered under my breath, purposely saying it loud enough for him to hear.

"I heard that!" he cried in an injured tone.

"You were meant to, sweetie," I said with a sour-sweet smile, patting his shoulder. "Now are we going to go? I'd really like it if we were off."

Before anyone could reply, I was out the door. There was something very wrong about the spaceship, something so very wrong. I was frozen in place, examining the place.

_"Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored,"_ a voice played over the intercom.

"I'm in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries," Amy said, her face twisting.

"Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one. Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" The Doctor turned to look at me. "Can't you see it, Iridis?"

"'Course I can," I replied, scrunching up my face.

"What? What's wrong?" Amy asked, looking at the both of us.

"Come on, use your eyes. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?" the Doctor put his arm around the both of us, leading us through the narrow, crowded streets.

"Is it the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles," Amy rambled, examining the spaceship.

"Says the girl in the nightie," the Doctor remarked, making me punch him in the arm.

"Be polite!"

"Oh my God, I'm in my nightie," Amy said, her eyes widening.

"Calm down," I said, patting her shoulder.

"You look lovely."

"Now, come on, look around you. Actually look," the Doctor said, leaning forward and placing his weight on my shoulders.

_"London Market is a crime-free zone,"_ the same voice as before played over the intercom.

"Life on a giant starship. Back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me." The Doctor halted and grabbed a cup of water from a random table and placed it on the floor.

"What are you doing?" the man sitting at the table asked.

The Doctor stared at the glass for a moment before replacing it on the table. "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish. Where was I?" He tapped the side of his nose.

"Nice job on the manners," I said, patting his shoulder as we walked off.

"Thanks," he whispered back, offering me his arm.

I took it and we walked away.

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked, still not following our train of thought.

"Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state. Do you see it yet?" the Doctor asked Amy, looking around.

"Where?" Amy asked, still confused.

"There," I whispered to her, pointing at the young girl who was sobbing silently by herself.

The Doctor walked off, walking over to the little girl.

"One little girl crying. So?" Amy asked me just as the Doctor walked back over to us.

"Crying silently," the Doctor began, only to have me cut him off.

"Generally, children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that," I finished for him, giving him a triumphant smirk.

"Are you a parent, then?" Amy asked me, frowning.

I giggled. "Maybe."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state."

"Show-off," I crowed, shoving the Doctor lightly.

"And don't you just love it?" he asked rhetorically, giving me a smirk.

"You wish." I snickered.

We all watched as the young girl climbed into what looked like an elevator.

"Where'd she go?" Amy asked, turning to the Doctor and I with a confused frown.

"Deck two oh seven. Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh, er, this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her. Took me four goes," the Doctor said, handing her a wallet. "Ask her about those things. The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."

"But they're just things," Amy protested.

"They're clean. Everything else here is all battered and filthy. Look at this place. But no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Look. Ask Mandy, why are people scared of the things in the booths?" the Doctor explained, pointing out the difference between the things in the booths and the rest of the place.

"No, hang on. What do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed," Amy pointed out dryly, waving the wallet around to emphasize her point.

"It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose?" The Doctor gave Amy and I a mischievous grin.

Amy grimaced and I patted her shoulder consolingly.

"Ha-ha, gotcha. Meet me back here in half an hour," the Doctor commanded, leaping over the bench.

"Ru-de!" I sang, walking around the bench like any normal person would.

"What are you two going to do, then?" Amy asked, frowning.

"What I always do. Stay out of trouble."

I snorted loudly, and the Doctor shot me an injured look.

"Badly," he finished with a pout.

"So is this how it works, Doctor? You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?" Amy asked, giving the Doctor a grin.

"Yeah, basically," I confirmed before he could, making him give me another pout.

Amy rolled her eyes and walked off, making me smile.

"To the engine room?" I asked the Doctor.

"To the engine room," he replied with a nod, offering me his arm.

"Never could refuse an offer of an engine room," I remarked with a huge grin, taking his arm and walking off.


	6. Chapter 6

"Can't be," the Doctor mused, feeling the walls. He scanned the walls with the sonic and showed me the results.

My frown deepened. "It's not possible," I muttered, feeling the walls as well.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water. Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor, Iridis?" a woman in a white mask asked.

"You know us?" the Doctor asked her, frowning.

"Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass," the woman commanded, gesturing to the glass of water sitting on the ground.

"Who says I see anything?" the Doctor challenged, taking my hand.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?" the woman asked.

"You know why," I shot back, frowning.

"No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So, I thought I'd take a look. It doesn't make sense," the Doctor mused, digging into the wall. "These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look, they're dummies, see? And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was . . ."

"No engine at all," they said in unison.

"But it's working. This ship is travelling through space. I saw it," the Doctor protested.

"The impossible truth, Doctor. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly," the woman said.

"How?" the Doctor asked her, giving my hand a squeeze.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor, Iridis. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe. This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!" The woman tossed me an odd device.

"Who are you? How do we find you again?" the Doctor asked her, taking the device from my hands.

"I am Liz Ten, and I will find you," the woman said before she had disappeared in some smoke.

"Well, then," I commented once she was gone, raising my eyebrows. "That was a bit dramatic."

"Yeah, just a bit," the Doctor agreed, nodding. "Well, come on. We've got Amy to find."

I took his offered arm and we walked off. We walked to a voting cubicle, and the door swung open. The Doctor bounced inside, with me close behind.

_"Listen to me. This isn't a trick. This is for real,"_ Amy's voice sounded, sounding as if it was inside a video.

"Amy?" the Doctor asked, frowning.

_"You've got to find the Doctor and Iridis."_

Amy turned off the video and turned to the both of us with a guilty look on her face.

"What have you done?" the Doctor asked her, alarmed.

"Come here, Amy," I whispered, holding my arms out for a hug.

"Thanks," she whispered in reply, hugging me.

"It's okay, just ignore him," I murmured to her, allowing her to bury her face in my hair. With that said, I turned to the Doctor. "What happened?"

The Doctor scanned the ceiling, what looked like a light. He was frowning. "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about twenty minutes."

"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy asked me, her grip tightening on me slightly.

"Because everyone does. Everyone chooses the Forget button," the young girl, Mandy, cut in, walking to my side.

I ruffled her hair and let go of Amy, who whimpered slightly. "Why's that then?"

"Did you?" the Doctor asked her, cutting into the conversation.

"I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm twelve. Any time after you're sixteen, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then once every five years," Mandy explained.

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action," the Doctor remarked sarcastically, making me nudge him slightly.

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish, too? And what about you, miss?" Mandy nodded at me.

"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me," the Doctor said with a grin in my direction.

"Not for me either," I said triumphantly, giving him a huge grin in return.

"It played for me," Amy said, confused.

"The difference being the computer doesn't accept me or Iridis as being humans," the Doctor said, scanning the computer.

"Why not? You look human," Amy remarked. "I already know about Iridis, so don't bother with her. But why not you?"

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first," the Doctor said with a triumphant smirk.

I nudged him, giving him a look that was tinted with amusement.

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" Amy asked, reaching out for my hand.

"No," I said sadly, taking her hand.

"No. There were, but there aren't. Just me now. Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened. And you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Because this is what I do, every time, every day, every second. This." The Doctor shot me a huge grin. "Hold tight. We're bringing down the government."

When the Doctor went to hit the 'Protest' button, I grabbed his hand. "Together."

"Deal," he replied, giving me a warm smile.

Together, we hit the button, and the doors slammed shut, Mandy trapped outside. The smiling thing in the booth's head turned to the point where it was scowling. Meanwhile, the floor began to slide open.

"Say 'wheee'!" the Doctor said with a huge grin, grabbing my hand.

"Aaaaaaahhh!" Amy screamed, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Yaaaaaaay!" I shouted, giving the Doctor a huge grin.

The floor swung open and we shot down, into the bright red cavern. We slid down, falling into free space. Amy continued to scream, while I continued to shout in pure excitement. The Doctor, meanwhile, shouted 'wheeeeeee!' as we fell.


End file.
